Ghosts of Lyarra (27 page)

“If I did, it would make less sense to you than it did to me
.” He replied. “
He says you will meet face to face and I don’t see anything that could stop him in doing so. Don’t be in such a rush to meet the devil Council; he will come to you if you are patient
enough
.”

“Are you hurt?” Sara asked; she could hear the pain in his voice. “Hold on and we will get help down to
you.”

“
I can see her
.” He almost whispered. “
She’s just standing there, smiling at me. Been a long time since I’ve seen her beautiful smile; she’s come to take me
home
.”

“Don’t talk like that Wilson. All bombs can be disarmed; you don’t have to die down there.” Sara tried to calm him
down.

“
It’s alright
.” He muttered. “
I never should have survived that night in the desert; shoulda died then and there for what I did. A man can’t escape his past, and my part in what happened to your father has to be punished. I can’t change what I did, but I can face it as I try to save my
soul
.”

This wasn’t what Sara wanted to hear; she had long suspected that Avery Wilson was one of the ‘survivors’ from her father’s revenge but could never prove it. Patterson had become too much of a hero to bring to justice, Emily Phillips had disappeared after leaving the mountain in Tibet, and Wilson had been in a coma for years afterwards. All the others had paid for her pain, and now Sara fought her anger to justify another life being taken in the name of Aaron
Foster.

“No one else dies for that.” She tried to reason with him. “You can’t change the past. As much as I hate you for what you had done, without Aen the human race would not have
survived.”

“
It don’t make that right, my dear
.” He argued back. “
So understand as I say this, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart
.” He went quiet for a moment before letting out a sigh. “
My entire life was honorable and true until that day, and afterwards I knew what I had done would cost me my life; if not my very soul. For my part in your pain, I am truly
sorry
.”

A loud audible click ended the transmission and the horizon lit up in a blue sunrise. The light was so bright, Sara could see the bones of her hand as she shielded her eyes with it. Within seconds, the ship’s systems adjusted for the new visual input and deeply tinted the view screen glass. As it did, she could look on in awe of what had
happened.

Where once had been a building and a mountain in the distance, there was now a ball of blue and white flame that stretched miles into the sky. Surrounding mountains shed their snow as avalanches occurred on ten or more peaks in unison. Those closest even collapsed in massive rock falls as the mountain itself couldn’t withstand the
explosion.

“Brace for impact!” the pilot hollered as Lyxia pulled her down into her seat and buckled her up. She watched helplessly as a wall of rock and snow rushed towards them; then it all went
black.

—
Ruins of Bristol County, Massachusetts

The rain beat down on him steadily, but he didn’t even feel it anymore. For the last twenty minutes, he had stood in the New England rain amongst the ghostly remains of a once proud and beautiful graveyard and simply endured the deathly stare of his counterpart. She had stood silently, but her eyes were anything but quiet. They cut holes right into him as he stood solemnly over the marker that told of his human demise. Looking down on it, Aen was puzzled that he felt little in the way of remorse of a life
lost.

“You could have killed them.” Iana could no longer contain her rage. “Your daughter and the one you long for were near the blast
radius.”

“And has Caretaker not assured us that they survived?” he asked with a sigh. “And other than a few minor injuries are they not
unharmed?”

“How can you be so callous about
this?”

Aen wasn’t sure how to answer as he stared down at the inscribed rock. He felt oddly detached from all that was Aaron Foster now, even though he had regained all his missing memories there was little they contained that changed what he had become in their absence. In a way, it felt like a failure to regain what he once was and at the same time vindicated that he wasn’t the helpless child that could barely save
himself.

“You mistake my calmness as a sign that I don’t care about them.” He answered after a brief moment. “There is nothing more I want to do then run out there and pull them from the snow to safety, but it would shed light on a plan that needs to be in the shadows for a bit
longer.”

“And in the meantime, you mean to put those that would help us in harm’s
way?”

This drew a reaction from Aen, as he spun towards her and grasped her by her shoulders. His eyes blazed as they peered deep within hers; Iana shuddered as her companion finally showed some
agitation.

“I mean to save us all, Highness.” His voice was tired and lonesome. “All this is being done so you can continue on your path of light; to ensure the Empire is in the right hands when the storm hits its shores. You see the path we are on for the twisted turns of the maze as we walk amongst it, but I can see the picture as a whole and it becomes clearer every day. At the beginning of all this, I asked you to trust me and I need to know if you still
do.”

Aen released her and stepped back to show her he meant no harm. Iana’s face; even in its altered disguise; showed the mess of emotions that roiled beneath the surface and the confusion they caused. She was lost, and her fear showed a hint of mistrust; if only for a
moment.

“If the tables were turned Aen; and you were in my place and I in yours; would you trust in me even after all that has happened?” she
asked.

“If memory serves me right,” he answered. “I believe I already have and
did.”

It was her turn to look down at the headstone and contemplate. Iana remained quiet for a few minutes, but Aen did not think anything of it. He used the time to scan the area and make sure they remained undisturbed. The area was desolate as it was largely untouched by the ravages of the Husk attack; unlike the city that surrounded it. Other than a few smaller buildings that had fallen on the outer fringes of the boneyard, it remained much as it had been; as it once
was.

“I often wonder what may have happened if I left you amongst the ice and snow of the wreckage you were cast out on. If I hadn’t sent out for your retrieval, how things may have turned out?” she
whispered.

“Then I would be looking down at a similar memorial with your name upon it.” Aen relied quickly. “And sifting through the wreckage and dead of an entire Empire. Make no mistake, my involvement in this has not stopped your enemy’s plans and desires, but only delayed them some. They are coming Iana, and with them they bring all the darkness you have only seen in your
nightmares.”

Iana looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Aen knew she was struggling to find the strength to carry on, but the fact that the enemy stayed out of sight wore on her deeply. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted before he could continue, by an update from
Caretaker.

“
There has been a Council session called as you predicted
.” The AI droned. “
It appears that our enemy is growing impatient with the lack of results from the Fleet in finding
you
.”

Aen smiled, this was the mistake he was waiting for. Even though it had come far earlier than he expected, his enemy would finally step forward and his suspicions would be confirmed. But things had changed on his end as he had discovered that the one he had been taunting was possibly a puppet herself and her master would be that much harder to bait into the
light.

“Ready the next message” he ordered after a brief pause. “And start prepping the ship for departure; it won’t be long until we head back into the
fray.”

—
Lyarran Vessel Dark Light; Neptune Orbital Range

Axyn was concerned with the continued silence from Lyxia; it wasn’t like her not to check in and she had missed more than a dozen scheduled times. In the back of his mind he knew the humans had some kind of blackout blanket cast over the star system; though how they achieved this he couldn’t fathom. For a species that had not travelled past their own moon five years ago, he shuddered at how quickly they were progressing. Terra Sol had become a fortress, and Axyn saw the humans becoming a threat in the near future with their quick
advancements.

And though communications were down, sensors were not and they told of strife and chaos on the surface of the third planet. Behind the rows of mighty cannons, Terra Sol was rocked by a couple of unusual explosions; the last one reminiscent of the sensor readings from the Lyarra’s Fire explosion. He had to look more than a few times to see the resemblance, and kept his findings to himself as something in the air aboard the Dark Light seemed off. Years of battle had fine-tuned his senses to notice even a subtle change in the environment around him; here, there were more than a few crew members acting out of
sorts.

It started with a simple relay of orders in Ops Con as he had launched a small shuttle to see the depths of the comms failure; Kala not only hesitated in carrying out a simple task, she seemed to almost disregard his appointed authority for more than a brief moment. He logged the incident and chalked it up to simple dislike for an Ifierin giving Fleet staff orders but her demeanor showed it was something
deeper.

Axyn also noticed a change in other crew in critical areas; more of a non-vocal snub than anything else, but still actions that were more than out of character from normal interactions with the same staff earlier. But the final tip off was a small grouping of his own men that until now, had rarely interacted. Axyn had taken a moment away from the command center to return to his barracks and gather a bit of his own work to complete during the down time when he noticed the soldiers huddled together through an open door as he passed. Knowing all his men by heart, it immediately raised a red flag in his mind as these were men that could barely stand marching in the same formation as the others, but here they were openly conversing with each other. Not wanting to show he may be on to something, he kept walking and retrieved his files. As he passed the room on his return, he took quick notice that it was empty; inside he hoped that it was nothing but random gambling, but deep down he knew it was something more
sinister.

He was waist deep in something he didn’t understand; shadows moved about his peripherals but stayed out of sight. Axyn hoped he would hear from Lyxia soon; for right now he knew she was one he could trust in a time when nothing seemed right
anymore.

—
Lyarran System, Throne World Planet Havyiin

It was raining on Havyiin; something that rarely happened at this time of year. Many said it was the planet itself shedding tears for the loss of Iana, but Myril saw it for what it was; a sign that everything was about to change. She was on the cusp of claiming what was hers at last; or at least taking the first steps to her coronation day. She had to be careful now; appearing too eager at a time of mourning would tip others off to her
intentions.

Rain cascaded off the windscreen of the shuttle as it cruised a few hundred meters off the planet’s surface towards the Grand Council. She had called the meeting after waiting nine months in the wake of the tragic - yet fortunate - death of the Empress. Until now, she had been stationed in the guest chambers of the Imperial Palace under constant watch; the murderer was still at large and forced her to do all her work by holo-conference. So up until now, Myril had played the loving mother to an Empire that desperately needed one, and all the while planting the seeds to her ascension in all those she spoke with in the most subtle of
manners.

That was how she had them call this emergency meeting, and though a handful of worlds and ships out on the outer fringes of the Empire hadn’t responded to the invitation, there would be more than enough Council members in attendance to nominate her as the next heir to the throne. After all, it was the most logical choice to
make.

Fleet Com had control over the Empire and all its affairs until now, but the Lyarran Empire was never meant to be a militant state and its people were growing restless. Myril had used this in her recent conversations with high ranking officials to suggest that, despite the official mourning period had yet to start, the Empire needed an Empress sooner than later. She had expected more resistance than she encountered, but her timing was perfect and those with the power to enact change were ready to do
so.

As the shuttle eased into the docks of the Grand Council, the meeting inside and its resulting decision were hardly a secret to her as she was dolled up a bit more than usual. Myril knew she was the incumbent leader, but tried her best to make it look like it would be an unexpected surprise. Her foot was in the door, and she had but to let the fools open it the rest of the way to let her take what she had so long
coveted.